Chapter Text
He had tried to stop himself from laughing, really he had. Okay well maybe his heart wasn’t completely in it but then again it’s not every day you see the guy who could kill you using a duster and sheer force of will reduced to a teenager and okay, so the landing hadn’t been soft, nor had the right hook that connected with his jaw but it was all worth it baby.
*
Stunned.
Stunned and disturbed.
Stunned, disturbed and surprised.
He’d always imagined Eliot to have been stocky, instead he was a slip of a thing, wiry and not an ounce of puppy fat on the boy before him, maybe a little around his face but the kid looked powerful for his age and angry, very angry.
*
She couldn’t believe it, Eliot was gone and in his place was this kid with messy hair, freckles and the bluest eyes she’d ever seen, wearing Eliot’s clothes.
Eliot would definitely be pissed if he knew that, Eliot was very particular about his stuff.
*
She felt the sharp twist in her solar plexus and before she knew it she was crossing the short space to put her arms around the boy... man... Eliot.
His breathing was harsh and he was clenching and unclenching his hands, nostrils flaring like a wild animal. The control that Eliot carried with him as an adult was obviously something he’d learned to do.
He stiffened in her embrace and she was unsure if she should ignore his rigid posture or give him some space, she went with her instinct, keeping one arm around his slight shoulders and slowly walking him to the sofa, all the while talking to him.
He remained unresponsive but his body was shivering and for a while she just let him sit quietly hoping he would calm on his own.
*
What the fuck had happened to him?
He was a kid. Well, he wasn’t a kid but his body was. Eliot could feel his heart pounding and the hot cool rush of his boiling blood chilling his skin.
His god damn clothes were hanging off him. His clothes hadn’t done that since he was thirteen.
He tried to feel guilty about punching Alec but it was hard to feel sympathy with a guy who got laid out by a pubescent child.
Sophie was too close to him, the sweet tang of her perfume messing with his addled hormones and the soothing sound of her voice grating with his raging temper.
He wanted to tell Nate to take a fucking picture but the man worried him, Nate was stronger than him now, punching Hardison was one thing, laying into the older man was a risk Eliot wasn’t sure he should or could take right now.
Vulnerable. Alone. Scared.
Yeah just how he’d felt at thirteen, just what he’d promised himself never to feel again.
At least Parker seemed like herself, but you know it was Parker, who really knew?